If they hadn't kept using the word "sustainable" ...
After a lot of talk about the importance of "sustainable" designs, having to do with the NASCAR Hall of Fame, it turns out the city (the owner of the building) hasn't pushed for a "green" building -- i.e., one designed to use fewer resources, fewer polluting resources, and to use less energy in both construction and operation. And it doesn't look as if it's going to.
George Miller (at right) of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, the firm designing the new NASCAR
Hall of Fame, gave a briefing at Wednesday's monthly AIA (American Institute of Architects) luncheon. Among the interesting details -- e.g., the "ribbon" wrapping around the building will be stainless steel and no, they haven't yet figured out structural details -- he talked about making the building "sustainable."
Earlier, Mayor Pat McCrory, in accepting an award from the AIA chapter for his work on behalf of what architects call "the built environment," said his overall philosophy for development is, "Do it right the first time and make it sustainable."
I couldn't stop myself. During the Q/A period I asked Miller whether the Hall of Fame would be LEED certified. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a rating system devised by the U.S. Green Building Council to encourage builders, developers and architects to build more environmentally benign buildings. Only two N.C. buildings are listed as certified -- none in Charlotte -- although ImaginOn and the Davidson College admissions office are among a number of LEED-registered buildings in this area.
Miller sort of hemmed and hawed and said, "We haven't talked in great detail," and that they were going to try to incorporate as many LEED techniques as possible.
Luckily for me, I was sitting smack next to City Engineer Jim Schumacher, who's the lead staff person on the Hall project. After all, the city is Miller's client in this. I asked Schumacher if the city had talked about LEED certification with the architects. No, he said. We told them, he said, "Do what makes sense."
Schumacher said the mechanical systems would meet LEED standards.
That leaves out techniques such as daylighting, reducing construction debris and using recycled materials. Some of those things, such as daylighting, aren't just feel-good issues, but have significant long-term implications for future operating costs.
I phoned Anthony Foxx, who chairs the City Council's Environmental Committee. He confirmed there'd been no discussion on the full council about whether to require/suggest/wish for a LEED-registered or certified project. "I did raise the issue with Engineering and Property Management," Foxx told me. "They pushed back on it, primarily concerned about the tightness of the budget."
LEED isn't a perfect instrument, and anyone who's familiar with it would agree. But it pushes builders and designers to consider a building's life-cycle costs along with short-term construction costs, and it helps educate them in new technologies and materials.
And it isn't necessarily more expensive. A Statesville elementary school that is LEED-certified was built for no more money than a regular elementary school, school district officials have said.
So, Mayor Pat, sir, and your colleagues on the council: How about pushing for the Hall of Fame to be LEED-certified? The city is the client, and the city should demand the best long-term value for its buildings.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
A "green" NASCAR Hall of Fame?
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Non of this is "sustainable." Mary loves to quote Kunstler and the future of Peak Oil. Nascar is doomed when the oil starts getting in short supply. The Nascar HOF will be around to perhaps remind us of that sport they used to have with cars and fossil fuels. Perhaps old videos playing so we will know what it used to look like.
Pick your battles Mary. Wachovia and B of A are well on their way towards building Charlotte's first 'green' skyscrapers, and they should as those are going to be bigger and put to a lot more use. Have you 'greened' your own house Mary? Have you solar panels on the roof, a windmill in the back yard, built a picnic table of recyeled soda bottles, chucked your car? Oh, I forgot, you still live in the suburbs! Yeah Mary, why don't you play your part before you start telling other people how to do theirs.
To the previous poster, give NASCAR some time. I can envision ethanol and electric hybrids eventually finding their way into the sport. Many features invented on the NASCAR track eventually found their way into the cars we use today (reinforced roll cages, X-bars for changing tires, etc.) . That said, on fuel systems, they are indeed, way behind.
Danimal
Danimal,
Agreed. Why isn't the Observer building LEED certified? Is LRT LEED certified? ( ok, sorry for bringing up LRT...ignore that )
Personally, I'd love to see a race with nuclear powered cars travelling at the sound barrier.
Nascar will eventually change fuels in the future to whatever makes the cars go faster as long as fans continue to pay to see them.
Fed Up, good question. Isn't it rather hypocritical of the talking heads at the Disturber to lecture us on environmental efficiency when they themselves aren't efficient?
All those dead trees being wasted. Tsk, tsk.
I agree. The Charlotte Observer, and Mary Newsom, are the absolute worst qualified to lecture anyone on their environmental credentials. How many trees must die each day to supply the 200,000 copies printed?
Mary, is your employer using only recycled paper for printing your product each day?
Get your own house in order before opening your mouth.
Educating the general reading public is well worth the paper and trees in the long run.
As far as the presentation went, I felt like getting up and walking out when he said that energy efficiency was primarily the mechanical engineer's job. That shows he was thinking like a business man and not a real architect when he said that. He was passing the buck because he had not done the work. Regardless of whether Mary has done her job in living a sustainable life, this building, and every other new building, should be sustainable. If a building is going to last 50 years or more before it is replaced, that is 50 years or more before it stops wasting energy.
How many McClatchy/Knight-Ridder buildings are LEED? What's that Mary? I didn't hear you...
Didn't the Observer endorse Al "eight-billion-kilowatt-house" Gore? And John "my family owns an SUV but I don't" Kerrey?
Yet another example of hypocrisy from limousine lie-beral Newsom. How much solar power in your crib, babe? I'm bettin' zip.
Many of us heard that McClatchey the Parent company of the observer is filing for a chapter of BANKRUPTCY; The Observer is fine though and safe; I also heard they are selling the Downtown location for its land on STONEWALL; Another location will be built within five miles of Downtown.
Thanks Mary...for asking the questions. At least someone IS asking those questions. For the critics of the Observer: you are clearly reading the online version of the paper - no trees needed. For the record, I do live in a passive solar house, which would have been built as solar only (14 years ago), if NC lending practices and costs hadn't made it too expensive. At least we tried to use less. Think about that in your 5,000 square foot, power-sucking McMansion.
She is not lecturing anyone. She is making suggestions. Good ones at that. If no one speaks up then nothing will ever move foward.
Thanks for speaking up Mary !
Have any of you Blowhards GREENED your homes ?
Very doubtful.
I have done everything I know possible to GREEN my life short of placing solar panels on my condo. Which they wont allow. But it's a small space and my utilities are under $50 a month for heating and a/c.
I am sure Mary has greened her place as well. If it's a house and the codes allow it I would put up solar panel for sure.
Mary ????
Looking at the stock price for McClatchy, it certainly appears that something is seriously wrong with this company and the Charlotte Observer. Investors have been selling like crazy for two years.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=MNI&t=2y
$2.7 billion in debt
$10 million in cash
Profits fell 60% from the previous year
Circulation appears to be falling about 4% per year
Ad revenue is dropping by 5% to 7% per year
This company is hurting. I doubt they can afford solar panels or recycled paper. Layoffs are coming to stop the cash burn and hemoraging.
Mary, have you updated your resume lately?
No, I haven't greened my home. I live in a condominium, so not much I can really do.
But then again, I don't go preaching to people about how they need to be more environmentally conscious while at the same time not doing it myself. That's the hypocrisy of the Global Warming religion; they preach that you have to live on solar power and ride mass transit and stop buying consumer goods, while at the same time they flit about in their CO2-spewing corporate jets and 3 MPG Hummer limos and live in 28,000 square foot houses.
So, yes, it would be nice if the new NASCAR Hall of Fame was environmentally-green. But let he who is without environmental sin throw the first stone, hmm?
To answer some of the comments -- The Observer building was built in 1968-69 and LEED didn't exist. My house was built in 1950. The NASCAR Hall of Fame will be a new building, built and owned by taxpayers. It could surely take advantage of LEED technology, which would save taxpayers plenty of operating expenses (i.e. utility bills) in future years.
No, the Observer building hasn't been "greened." I've recommended to several publishers that we do some renovations to cut our energy use and energy bills, but publishers don't listen to pundits any more than the rest of you! I think we have more energy-efficient lightbulbs but that's about it. They keep the A/C at about 65 in summertime, forcing many people to run space heaters at their desks. Awful, isn't it?
The newsprint we use has a substantial percentage of recycled paper. I've asked our operations manager to get me the percentage. And the paper switched to soy-based inks years back to avoid toxic waste.
Our house? Like most of you with older homes, we do what we can within our budget. It's relatively small (2300 square feet)so we're not heating/cooling vast high-ceilinged areas. We've replaced most (not all) of the old leaky windows with more efficient ones. We've put tons of insulating in the attic. We keep the thermostat at 68 in winter and 77 in summer (except when my husband goes by and changes it).
We have a rain barrel and we let the ground absorb the runoff from our gutters instead of piping it to the street or into the city storm drains. Two of the three toilets are low-flow (Toto -- they're great!) and we have three low-flow showerheads.
We rarely use chemical fertilizers or herbicides -- though I plead guilty to spraying poison ivy and wisteria regularly.
At some point we'll have to replace our old heating/AC unit (dates to early '90s) and we'll get an energy efficient one.
We don't own any SUVs and never will. We live 4 miles from where we work so we don't have to drive long distances daily. We live in the burbs (old burbs) because my husband and I like very different styles of houses (I like old, he likes glass-and-steel condos) and this was the only place we could compromise on.
As I said, we do what we can.
Update on recycled newsprint, from Vice President for Operations Chuck Griffiths:
"We primarily use two vendors. One vendor is 100% recycled and the second vendor uses 40% recycled pulp. Weighted average brings us currently to 60% range recycled newsprint."
Anon 10:52:00 AM
Like I said, I do about everything from live uptown (within walking distance to almost all my needs), bus, bike, walk, soon light rail, own a hybrid for trips out of town, live in a small condo with energy efficient everything from appliances to bulbs and recycle.
Hell, I even buy energy credits.
If you think that by me wanting more mass transit / friendlier environmental politics and by voicing my opinion on it is "preaching" my global warming religion than you are a total hopeless fool.
It all starts and finishes with the masses. If you wait for the corporate big wigs to lead you then you will have done nothing.
Everything great that has been done in this country has been done by everyday people joining together.
What happened to that American ideal ?
"Hell, I even buy energy credits."
Really? I've got some waterfront property down in Florida you might be interested in.
I know for a fact that a "sustainable" roof (garden roof) was originally proposed for the Hall and was squashed in the "value engineering" process during preliminary budgeting. I sell these roof sytems that retain storm water, lowers heating and cooling costs, absorbs CO2, gives back O2, provides a pleasant, human space and is constructed of recycled materials. A garden roof contributes 8 points toward LEED certification. This is a passive, permanent architectural feature that has nothing to do with mechanical or electrical systems, however the roof costs 4-6 times as much as a standard single ply roof. Don't anyone kid themselves, LEED certified building are significantly more expensive than industry standard construction systems. I believe we should do everything we can afford to conserve energy, however anyone that thinks that climate is either affected or controled by human activity is a stark, raving lunatic.
ClayJ,
You think that's funny, huh ?
Because I think it's a worthy cause to give my money to. To develope alternative energy sources.
Typical FAT ASS Republican remark. Yeah, that's right Bud, I know what you look like and where you live. You are only 3 blocks from me.
LITTLE PUDGY MAN
Keep up the smart ass comments.
I am looking foward to crossing your path real soon.
I guess the thousands of scientists were all wrong then, huh ?
You gotta be a Southern Bible thumper fo' sure.
That's right, your God is the one in control of it all.
NOW THAT'S FUNNY !!!!!!!!!!
Talk about a stark raving lunatic.
I'm getting me some popcorn and heading on down to Trade St. I hear there will be a smackdown real soon. Woooooooooo!!!!!
"ClayJ,
You think that's funny, huh ?
Because I think it's a worthy cause to give my money to. To develope alternative energy sources.
Typical FAT ASS Republican remark. Yeah, that's right Bud, I know what you look like and where you live. You are only 3 blocks from me.
LITTLE PUDGY MAN
Keep up the smart ass comments.
I am looking foward to crossing your path real soon."
Threats, huh? Nice. I'll keep your post in mind in case anything at all happens to me or my property. (Mary, I hope you will communicate to everyone that making threats in this blog is likely a FEDERAL offense, since we're posting across state lines.) Whoever you are, I'm sure the authorities won't have any trouble pulling the IP records from your threatening post and figuring out who you are.
And while there is nothing at all wrong with developing alternative energy sources, energy credits and carbon offsets are basically the equivalent of the indulgences that the Catholic Church sold up until the early 16th century, when the Protestant Reformation began. They're the modern equivalent of committing a sin and then buying forgiveness for it... an indulgent way for the wealthy to absolve their guilt in a way that allows them to continue sinning.
If you want to impress me, invest money in a company that develops alternative energy sources, not in some nebulous carbon offset or energy credit trading firm.
Hey clayj, don't knock the Catholics now. Pope Benedict and I will be praying for you.
"Hey clayj, don't knock the Catholics now. Pope Benedict and I will be praying for you."
I'm not knocking the Catholics now, I'm knocking the Catholics then. After the Reformation began, the Catholic Church wisely eliminated the practice of selling indulgences.
And I'm hoping the anonymous poster who threatened me earlier will calm down and stop taking everything people say so seriously. You can call me names if you like ("fat" and "pudgy"? I'm a little overweight, but come on), but when you make overt threats against me, you go too far.
"Threats, huh? Nice. I'll keep your post in mind in case anything at all happens to me or my property. (Mary, I hope you will communicate to everyone that making threats in this blog is likely a FEDERAL offense, since we're posting across state lines.) Whoever you are, I'm sure the authorities won't have any trouble pulling the IP records from your threatening post and figuring out who you are."
The far right peeps hate government services unless they become convenient all of the sudden. Yeah, let's get the feds involved.
Hey 5:42, as much as it would be cool to smack a Republican every now and then, the threats were uncool. Silly string, water balloons and pink flamingos on the other hand...
"The far right peeps hate government services unless they become convenient all of the sudden. Yeah, let's get the feds involved."
Actually, I like law enforcement. They're what stand between us and chaos.
And I'm not a "far right peep". I'm more of a libertarian, hence my opposition to most government spending.
But thanks for reaffirming that it was wrong for anyone to threaten me or anyone else. I appreciate what you said. :-)
Now let's get back on topic!
I believe I have invested and shown support in companies that develops alternative energy sources when I purchased my hybrid, my energy star appliances, bulbs, enviro cleaning products, etc., etc., etc.
As far as getting my I.P. go ahead and try. It's a ghost I.P. Every hear of it ? I doubt it.
And for the Feds getting involved. Haaa !
Go ahead and read over my post again. There's nothing threatening about it. Unless you choose to take it that way.
I choose my words very carefully.
I made sure to state that I have seen you, know where you live and that I can't wait until I see you again. I also stated that you were a pudgy man.
Nowhere did I ever threaten you.
You see Clayj, I know what I am doing.
Now go enjoy speed street fatty. I am sure you can gobble up a few pounds of deep fried Twinkies and corn dogs.
I believe the poster may have been talking about NC Green Power as far as the energy credits go ?
NC Green Power is electric energy generated using environmentally friendly renewable and reusable resources, such as solar, wind, biomass and water. You can contribute to the advancement of these technologies through Duke Energy and NC GreenPower, a non-profit subsidiary of Advanced Energy.
Help For as little as $4 a month. Every $4 donation will add one block of 100 kilowatt-hours of green energy to our state's power supply. Over a year, that's the environmental equivalent of not driving a car for 74 days or planting 150 trees!
Sounds good to me. I think I'll buy a few blocks as well. The more that we show we are interested in alternatives the more they will pursue them.
This post is from the "bible thumper". If I was referring to you when I said "raving lunatic", I apologize. I was simply trying to bait you. Seriously, thousands of scientists disagree about the multiple causes of climate change and there is no conclusive, scientific proof that the warming is caused by man made CO2 emissions alone. Indeed, there is strong evidence that sun activity has more effect on climate that CO2. There is also scientific proof that the earth's climate has fluctuated consistently throughout the history of the world, long before we were driving around in SUV's. Please, before we go spend trillions of dollars, let's be sure we are getting something for our efforts. The main problem is that liberals have made this an emotional, religious issue rather than a rational, scientific inquiry, like they do most issues. The left-wing green agenda involves governmental and lifestyle control, redistribution of income, excessive rules, regulations and loss of freedom. Typical.
Okay, sure....Mr. junkscience.com
Keep believing your Republican jargon.
I guess the thousands of scientists at
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in Paris were just lying to us ?
They all agreed human activity is to blame.
Bushman is even coming around to the idea as is the Religious Right. Now that it's the "in thing".
But "whatever". I will do my share. The rest of you do what you want. We will all be dead before we need to worry about it.
But for our kids sake and grandkids sake I hope that those thousands of scientist are wrong and your Mr. Steven Milloy Junkman junkscience oil / food additive lobbyist is correct.
Not a gamble I am personally willing to take.
I beg to differ on the comment:
"left-wing green agenda involves governmental and lifestyle control, redistribution of income, excessive rules, regulations and loss of freedom. Typical."
More like the right wing wackos trying to enter our homes and bedrooms to change everything from lifestyles to womens rights to prayer to "only their god" in school.
That is taking away rights that harm NO ONE.
The Left may want government to step in on enviro issues, public smoking, etc.
But you see, these are issues that actually do harm the public.
Big difference.
Right=moral B.S. not living in the real world or real world issues. Religious crap.
Left= trying to tackle things that actually make a difference on this planet. Not some fairy tale land up in the sky after we die.
You guys are way off base. I've never visited junkscience.com and go to church maybe 12 times a year. I don't give a damn what you do in your bedroom or if you're an atheist. We are the ones concerned about the women of the middle east and Iraq, not liberals. Read something besides the Observer, like the Wall Street Journal or Forbes and wake up. I was a liberal my first 38 years and finally started thinking about politics instead of feeling. I also came to understand the limitations of what government can do. Look at facts, give up the conspiracy theories, lose the intolerance of Christianity and most of all, try to control the immature, misdirected rage.
Typical Republican. If they hear something they don't like they start calling it imature / rage.
I don't see anything in my post that would be classified as rage or immature.
Since when did calling it like it is become "rage" ?
Is it because I used the phrase "B.S." that I am now imature ?
Or that I called Heaven a "fairty tale" ?
....was that it ?
Didn't see any "!!!!!!!!!" points in my post so that's not it.
It's more like the Republicans are the immature ones. Crying and moaning like a child if anyones comments differ from theirs
Give me and the rest of the planet a break.
Opps......did that sound like rage.
Sorry, please excuse me.
And please excuse my "m" key for sticking.
I am sure I will get drilled for that as well.
Oh yes, we know how credible all those UN and world scientist are. Please.
At one time in earths history most of North America was covered with glaciers. They eventually melted (...why?) and this is evidenced by the Great Lakes and other sediment based records.
In the 1970's everyone was afraid of another ice age. 30 years later it's global warming. In terms of geological era's, 30 years is not even a blip.
The earth has thermal cycles. It's a fact. Why we are crying chicken little now is beyond me.
We are now living in a global economic time and the competition is fearce. If we placate un-proven science we are risking the stability of our nation. If we are not careful, we will policy ourselves into a economic second class status.
Typical of your kind.
If it requires you to change in the least, even the smallest amount, you wont do it.
Pathetic, spoiled, lazy crybabies.
That about sums it up.
Go on, roll over and go back to sleep.
Global warming is already a fact of life. We need to move beyond this debate and just start adapting. There is no way to stop it. China is building a new coal power plant every 9 days. They will overwhelm any minor drop in western CO2 output.
Why is it that every time Mary writes a column, everyone resorts to personal attacks? Why not stick to the topic?
Anyway, I believe that it is a good idea for the city to at least try to get the building LEED certified. It may cost a little more up front, but the long term savings in operational costs will far outweigh the costs now.
This building will be here for decades, and those savings will keep on coming.
I am an engineer and have dealt with LEED. Let's eliminate one misconception. A LEED building is not necessarily more energy efficient. You receive the same "credit" for installing a bike rack as you would for reducing the building energy use by 7% below standard. LEED is not just imperfect. It is flawed. It is a lot of paperwork, extra work and extra cost for little return as far as efficiency goes.
>> China is building a new coal power plant every 9 days.
Then why don't all you environuts go to China and protest and LEAVE US THE YOU-KNOW-WHAT ALONE!!!!
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